Who is Maya Toitovna from Red Mars and what is their importance? Mars_trilogy English & Literature Maya Toitovna | Red Mars

Maya Toitovna is the leader of the Russian contingent on the Ares. Maya has considerable skill in engineering, but her true strength comes from her leadership abilities. Maya, however, has a tendency to use seduction, wit, and cunning to manipulate others to do her bidding, rather than using honesty and integrity as a leader. As a child, her life in Russia often led to a dislike of men, but a need for them in order to gain power and prestige. It is suggested she has used her sexual relations to rise up through the ranks of the Soviet space program. On Ares, she attempts to use the same tactics, but ends up in a love triangle between leader of the Americans, Frank Chalmers, and the first man on Mars, John Boone. She chooses John, but only because he can give her a powerful status.